![BavAR[t]](https://bavart.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/cropped-Logotype_BavARt.png)
The Slap Head automaton
When augmented reality brings an 1890 automaton back to life — without ever touching the original piece.
Use case — Musée des Arts Forains
Indoor immersive exhibition · Festival du Merveilleux
"La tête à claque": an augmented reality exhibition at the Musée des Arts Forains
For the Festival du Merveilleux 2023, the BavAR[t] app launched a unique immersive experience in collaboration with the Musée des Arts Forains.
The museum wanted to allow the public to interact with "la tête à claque", an iconic fairground automaton from 1890 — no longer functional due to its age and fragility. Using photogrammetry, BavAR[t] digitised the automaton in 360° and created a virtual animation that brings the original mechanism back to life, without ever altering the physical piece.
A deep dive into the history of fairground art
The Musée des Arts Forains, located in Paris's Bercy district, holds one of the world's most important collections of fairground automatons and 19th-century attractions. Its flagship piece: "la tête à claque", a playful automaton from 1890, silent for decades due to its fragility.
Facing the non-functional real object, visitors use the BavAR[t] app to trigger the virtual animation and watch the mechanism animate on their smartphone, superimposed onto the real piece. A single photogrammetry session produced two distinct animated 3D models — maximising output while minimising file size in the event environment.
Musée des Arts Forains
Project partner
The Musée des Arts Forains (Pavillon de Bercy, Paris) is a private museum housing one of the world's most important collections of fairground attractions and antique games. For its Festival du Merveilleux, the museum trusted BavAR[t] to deploy its first augmented reality experience.
Museum websiteIncluded in the festival visit · Contact us for pricing information.
Technology at the service of heritage
BavAR[t] digitised the automaton at 360° in a single photogrammetry session. This technique captures every surface of the object with millimetric precision, producing a photorealistic 3D model without any contact with the original piece.
From this single session, two distinct animated 3D models were created — one showing the automaton at rest, the other in motion. Visitors trigger the animation simply by pointing their smartphone at "la tête à claque".
Results
![BavAR[t] app - Arts Forains](https://bavart.io/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/arts-forains-app.jpg)
An innovative cultural mediation
This project demonstrates the power of pure organic engagement: one third of festival visitors tested the app without any financial incentive — direct validation of augmented reality mediation's appeal.
The +25% growth in app downloads in just 7 days proves the viral power of high-traffic cultural events. The Musée des Arts Forains experience opened the door to new digital projects, establishing BavAR[t] as the reference tool for 3D heritage digitalisation.
Experience BavAR[t]
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